When Dreams Join Reality
by StorewideSalmon
Summary: The Dragonborn unites Tamriel against the Dominion and reforges the Empire. As years pass and the Empire can expand no further, they look outward for room to grow and meet new people who have a hard time grasping simple concepts such as magic. Such primitives. (utilizing concepts from throughout the series and background lore such as the metaphysical concept of the Aurbis.)
1. prologue

**When Dreams Join Reality  
**

 **Prologue**

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History has always been muddled when the details of the Emperor's ascension come into question, whether lost to time and myth or because any combination of events simultaneously were and were not may never be known; stories claim him to have been of different races, done contradictory deeds, and even been of opposite gender. The accepted story is that after the warrior known as The Last Dragonborn defeated both the watcher/mage Vahlok and the usurper/thief Miraak, The Dragonborn took them both into his very soul and meditated upon the summit of Apocrypha. Those that knew him before claim he was changed next they saw him, power radiated off of him like light from the sun. Though his origin is many and varied, who he was after his return is known to all; Magnus, god of magic and architect of creation, reformed in the shape of a Nord hero of old. Upon his return from Solstheim Magnus joined the College of Winterhold to practice in the use and control of his newfound power. through a series of events (search any imperial library for details) Magnus became the Arch-mage after using his staff to rejoin his eye with his body, stabilizing his powers and using his staff to focus his magic.

Months later when Winterhold came under siege by vampires, it was the mages of the college that saved the town, helping pave the way for the two halves of Winterhold to slowly let go of old resentments. Eventually word of the mages triumph over the fiends spread to a group of vampire hunters known as the Dawnguard and their leader, Isran, sent an invitation to the mages asking for an alliance between the factions. The arch-mage agrees on the condition that no major decisions are made without his consent. When the Hall of the Vigilant falls, Isran notifies Magnus or Dimhollow Crypt and requests someone be sent to investigate while his forces rebuild their fortress. Brelyna Maryon, J'zargo, and Colette Marence are given a recall beacon (see codex) and sent to the crypt to meet with one of the Dawnguard accompanied by Vigilant Tolan. The beacon was used to summon Magnus to the Main Cavern when the group discovered trapped vampire possessing an elder scroll. Magnus took the scroll from her and sent Brelyna to escort her home, where she becomes a vampire lord in an attempt to help the college study the infamous Volkihar strain of vampirism.

Two weeks later sees none other than Serana wandering the partially rebuilt and expanded Winterhold, having escaped from her father (Harkon) in an attempt to thwart his plans. Isran was initially furious at what he perceived as a betrayal when he discovered not one, but two vampires at the college. With much explanation, Isran and the Arch-mage were brought up to speed on the Harkon's plan to block out the sun. Eventually a plan of action was agreed upon; the Arch-mage would accompany Serana in her attempt to foil Harkon's plan, Brelyna would help the Dawnguard learn how to better combat the vampire menace, while the mages and the Dawnguard would focus on defending the towns from vampire attacks.

After two months, the arch-mage returned with Serana, he mother, another elder scroll, and a snow elf(Gelebor) wielding Auriel's bow. The College and The Dawnguard launch an all out assault on castle Volkihar. Durnehviir summoned his thralls upon the bridge while Valerica and Brelyna clear the walls of guards, giving the Dawnguard time to take the tower and set up a recall beacon. The mages took the bridge, clearing the way for Magnus and Serana to enter and defeat Harkon.

Upon the return of the war party, The college turned their attention towards a new goal; the return of the snow elves. while the rest were away, Colette had been busy concocting a cure for the curse put on the Falmer by the Dwemer. After two weeks of trial and error on captive specimens, a breakthrough was made. When Gelebor and the Arch-mage were informed, the group immediately set out on an extended campaign of cat-and-mouse to capture and cure the remaining Falmer. After six months of stealthily healing the majority, the ever increasing population of Snow Elves set about repairing the Dwemer Cities connected to Blackreach and capturing the remaining Falmer. Using the knowledge gained from their years of slavery, the newly healed Falmer rapidly restored Blackreach to it's former glory and swore their allegiance to The College and Arch-mage Magnus.

The arch-mage found that while he was away, the rest of Skyrim had decided enough time had passed since the cease fire agreement and the civil war began anew. when he arrived at Winterhold, Jarl Korir had waited for the arch-mage to return before deciding on if he should rejoin the war and risk his now prospering hold. At the Jarl's statement that he wished to support Ulfric in ousting the "Thalmor puppets" from Skyrim, The Arch-mage revealed the dossier he recovered from the Thalmor embassy which details Ulfric's betrayal during the great war and his status as a Thalmor agent. The Jarl immediately sent word to Balgruuf The Greater, Laila Law-Giver, Skald of Dawnstar, and Ulfric Stormcloak for an emergency meeting concerning "recent information that endangers all of our holds". After the Jarls and their guards arrive and are seated, Korir signals to the mages hidden around the room to paralyze their guests. While everyone is restrained, Korir has the journal passed around and explains the situation. when the spell is ended, everyone looked to Ulfric for an explanation... His answer came in the form of the Thu'um, but was rendered useless by Magnus's own Thu'um overpowering Ulfric's and slamming him against the wall. Galmar was the first to gain his bearings, cutting Ulfric's tongue from his mouth. The gathered Jarls ultimately decided to give Ulfric to General Tullius and explain Ulfric's situation and a new alliance is formed in secret. The public is told that the Empire has won the war, the Falmer are kept secret, and all the factions of Skyrim work to build their strength for the inevitable war with the Thalmor. A moot is convened between the Jarls with Tullius in attendance, naming Arch-mage Magnus as Jarl of Windhelm and new High-King, both for his three times saving not just Skyrim but all of Tamriel and his role in ending the war.

Magnus' first act as Jarl is to re-integrate the non-nords into the city and work to bring his people together after years of racism and segregation. He sends a dark elf and an argonian to take word to their homelands that Skyrim wishes to reforge the Ebonheart Pact in secret. His housecarl, Lydia of Whiterun, is brought to Windhelm and Galmar is named thane. Odahviing is given a place to roost within the city so that he may serve as a liaison between Skyrim and the dragons, hopefully building a lasting peace and partnership between the two, while Galmar is sent to gain the support of the giant clans.

The High-king, forces as much power as he can into the transmute spell, succeeds in turning iron into ebony. Eorlund Gray-mane is commissioned to use his Skyforge to create the very best ebony armor and weapons possible for the for the forces of Skyrim. The end result is an ebony suit of carved nordic armor with Segmented plates over the usual gaps and a fully enclosed helmet rather than the open faced one, later enchanted by the College's master enchanter(see codex for details). The weapons were forged in the style of Eorlund's signature Skyforge steel and everything is teleported to the massive armory built within Blackreach. As the Falmer refurbished the Dwemer assembly lines and furnaces, Production was shifted to them, avoiding public knowledge of the growing supply of equipment.

Ten years passed and much had happened in that time. Winterhold had become a thriving city, thanks to the feud with the College having ended, As did Blackreach and the "Dwemer" cities(though not many surface dwellers were aware of such). Because of their knowledge of Dwemer mechanics and sciences from their time as slaves, the Falmer were able to reproduce many of the Dwemer's ancient wonders, primarily concerning construction and automatons. The Capital of the Falmer's new kingdom was moved to the Forgotten vale, providing a surface city safe from outside knowledge until they are ready. A combined effort throughout the holds had drastically reduced the population of bandits and seen the reconstruction of many old forts. Coincidentally, the Thalmor occupied fort of Northwatch Keep was reportedly "raised by dragons" during this time period, though no evidence was found of any such fort ever existing. The High-king gave an ultimatum to the Vampires and were-beasts, stating that "those wishing to rejoin society should make themselves known. Those that remain in the wilds, preying on the people will be hunted down without mercy." Thanks to the efforts of Serana, Valerica, and Brelyna; not all vampires are seen as monsters by the populace, only those that attempt to hide what they are, some saw it as a new market opening in the sale of blood. Similarly when the Companions went public on being werewolves, many people's fears were eased, the Companions were well known heroes among the people of Skyrim.

Galmar had succeeded in bringing the Giant clans into agreement with the High-king, peace and a military alliance in exchange for the right to roam free of harassment and assault. The Giant name Grok joined Windhelm's guard force and Magnus had a suit of armor and a war hammer made by Eorlund in the same manner as the rest of the suits. The Council of Great Houses of Morrowind agreed to rejoin The Pact if the Argonians return their holdings of Morrowind back to the Dark Elves. The Argonians in turn were urged by the Hist to accept and asked in return to be given the land around the Sleeping Tree in Skyrim to start a settlement. As it turned out, The Sleeping Tree was actually a dormant Hist tree. The High-King agreed, as this would better facilitate communication if the Hist was awoken.

Lydia had gathered together 11 of those whom had proven themselves loyal to Magnus during his journeys and brought them to Windhelm. There they swore on their Honor, Life, and Souls to obey and protect him, before he bound them to himself. Over the course of the 10 years they were personally trained in the use of the Thu'um and Dovahzul by Magnus and the dragons, taught all schools of magic by the masters at the College, trained with their preferred weapon with the companions, and studied strategy and tactics, economics, diplomacy, and politics. They were given the best training they could get for 10 years and whatever they could not perfect within that time, they at least had a good start. A trade was made with the Gelebor for suits of aetherium and ebony like the carved ebony suits in exchange for the Eyes of the Falmer. The suits are then enchanted just like the rest and thanks to the magical nature of aetherium, the enchantments on the armor are several times stronger. Added onto their new armor is a robe made of woven ebony thread to hide the armor from others and enchanted with a levitation spell that works in the same way as the water-walking. As a finishing touch, each one is given one of the dragon priest masks, with Magnus keeping Konahrik to go with his own suit. He names the group "The Tongues" in honor of the Ancient warriors that fought against Alduin.

The Empire had done their best to regain their old strength over these 10 years, but crisis after crisis since the start of the fourth era, the citizens of Cyrodiil and High rock wished only to think of themselves. The Oblivion crisis, the war of succession , the Void Nights, the Great War, Hammerfell Seceding, Banning Talos worship, Wayrest falling, Bravil's riots, Civil war in Skyrim, Dragon sightings on the border, and another Emperor assassinated all build a sense of hopelessness and despair within the people of Cyrodiil. When Anvil was suddenly taken by the Dominion, followed shortly by Kvatch, the Legion scrambled to counterattack. Arriving at a burning Skingrad, the Legion makes its stand; the front-line is drawn. When word reaches Skyrim that the Dominion has made their move, a moot is called by the High-King. Deciding unanimously upon a decisive counterattack, the Holds are emptied of all available forces and word is sent to the rest of The Pact. The next week saw Magnus and 5000 ebon-plated Nords marching over the border into Hammerfell with dragons overhead, another 1000 marching south into Cyrodiil with a contingent of giants, and argonians raiding the coasts of Elsweyr. The argonians allowed Dominion ships to disembark supplies in Valenwood to make them haul it to their destinations in Elsweyr, only to steal the supplies in the night after they cross the border.

After a short confrontation with the Alik'r, the Nords were able to explain their intentions and managed to gain the support of Hammerfell in their "Elf Hunt". Marching till they reached the city of Hegathe, the Nord army commandeered the local's ships and set sail for Auridon while the Alik'r headed south to support Cyrodiil. Meanwhile House Telvanni and House Redorran forces join with the southern nordic army and argonian forces to assault the cities closest to the borders of Cyrodiil. Firsthold was the first city of Auridon to fall, to the defenders it seemed almost as if a second oblivion crisis was happening. A flag fell from the sky and then an army clad in black appeared in their midst, slaughtering all the defenders in minutes. Afterwards the High-King gathered all the townsfolk in the main courtyard and used his Bend Will shout to force any disguised Thalmor agents to reveal themselves, a tactic he would later repeat on every person he captured. Through the use of recall beacons, water-breathing, night-eye, and the Thu'um; each city on Auridon was infiltrated via ports or sneaking in at night, beacons were planted, defenders massacred, and populations screened for Thalmor. Knowing that once communication stopped, the Dominion would now something was wrong, Magnus delayed the assault on the rest of Summerset in favor of awaiting the Dominion troops that pull out of mainland Tamriel.

When the Dominion fleets attempted to return they were harassed by argonian and reguard ships and dragons, losing most of their number in transit back to Summerset. Upon their arrival on Auridon, they were greeted by impatient nords charging out over open water to greet them. After the last dominion forces trickled in, followed by Skyrim's allies who were now free to assist in the invasion, the combined armies turned their sights on Summerset Isle. One by one the Atlmer cities fell, many High elves actually joined in against the Dominion troops for a chance to be rid of Thalmor influence. Alinor, the last bastion of the Thalmor fell one month later, the citizens fled into the arms of the invaders and Magnus cast the city into the sea. After the city sank, Magnus used his staff to pull creatia from the surrounding lands and rebuilt Crystal-Like-Law as though it had never fallen. The war was over, the Empire was a united Tamriel once again, and the Thalmor were no more. With an open throne and a Dragonborn hero having been the one to re-unite all of Tamriel, the choice of Emperor couldn't have been easier. Upon taking the throne, Emperor Magnus stationed his Tongues within all the courts and ruling bodies of each province and instituted educational reforms throughout the empire. All citizens are to learn the basics of restoration and are encouraged to continue their studies in other schools of magic as well. So began the Fifth era.

The next century saw many cities rebuilt and expanded, the Falmer's resurgence and alliance with the Empire was revealed to the public. The Emperor is revealed to be immortal, along with his Tongues through their being bound him. Explorers find the people of Akavir have killed each-other off through their constant civil war and so the continent is colonized. Falmer made automatons are becoming common throughout the Empire, doing menial tasks such as farming and mining. Plans are made to journey to Masser and Secunda, a bounty is put out for the first to create a successful "Aether-ship". At the turn of the century research into the obscure fields of scrying and divination rediscover a form of free, long distance, instantaneous communication for all; dubbed "The Dream-sleeve".

5th Era 105: The first ship to succeed in reaching Nirn orbit burns up on reentry.

106: New ships are designed, experiments on creating a new alloy start, the Falmer have discovered the secret to creating aetherium through the transmutation of sapphires.

108: A new alloy of ebony and malachite is perfected and dubbed Lorkhanite. The new alloy is approved for use in building new ships due to the strength and ease of enchantment offered by its base metals. All Imperial ships are to be given the same enchantments as the armor and robes of the Tongues, but many times stronger through the use of complex rituals.

109: The first of the new Falcon* model aetherships is finished.

180: With the blessings of the Divines, their long dormant bodies have been colonized, the spirits of the Aedra making their surfaces habitable at the cost of limiting their ability to intervene in the affairs of mortals, their influence limited to the immediate area around their physical bodies.

465: The populations of Each planet within the Magnus system have reached pre-colonization numbers. Magic use has extended the average lifespan of each race by 2 times, with the most skilled mages projected to live as much as 8 times their race's normal years. Due to such population levels and ever extending lifespans, the Empire looks outward for room to grow. Meridia offers to teach Magnus in the creation of his own realm as a jumping out point for the Empire in exchange for the destruction of the Necromancer's moon that orbits Arkay.

466: After a week of constant bombardment from 500 Falcon failed to destroy Mannimarco's corrupted form of godhood, the Emperor dons his armor and exits his ship. Putting his full strength through his staff, Magnus obliterated the moon and a swath of asteroids orbiting the system. The Emperor orders the for a new ship to be designed with maximum destructive ability and intimidation as the focus, for the event that massive levels of destructive power are needed in the future.

468: under the tutelage of Meridia and with his knowledge of the Aurbis, Emperor Magnus created his own realm. Located outside The Wheel, this new realm is to be used for expansion beyond the Aurbis and outside the Godhead's dream. Since a realm is an extension of the maker's will, Magnus has complete control of all within his domain. He creates a massive floating fortress within his realm and names it Arctus station, after Tiber Septim's battle-mage Zurin Arctus. For assistance rendered, Meridia is officially added to the Empire's pantheon of gods.

501: Three garden-worlds are colonized, with the Emperor and his mages working to make the other planets and moons in all three systems habitable in the near future. Mass immigration occurs within two of those systems, but one system is found to have an enormous artifact of enormous power trapped in ice on the edge of the system. The empire limits the colony to one city in the event an evacuation in needed.

508: The first Alduin class* aethership has been finished, this ship is made the Emperor's flagship. The ship is named The World Eater and piloted by Odahviing. The Empire's population reaches 72 billion persons; with a navy of 18 million Falcons crewed by 90 million plus support personnel and the Imperial Legion numbers in at 800 million combat personnel supported by logistics and support personnel.

512: Six new systems have been colonized with all planets and moons made habitable, 10 of the Tongues have been made Imperial governors of each system and the remaining two are made Grand admiral and Supreme commander of the navy and Legions respectively. The Empire has ceased colonization efforts until a time when population levels demand expansion. The Emperor has started gathering files on potential additions to the Tongues. So far no new information has been discovered about the mysterious artifact besides the fact that it is composed of a metal that is roughly equivalent in strength to Lorkhanite. The World Eater and its attending fleet of 6000 Falcons are stationed in the system to guard the artifact and protect the colony. The artifact suddenly comes to life and 50000 ships of various designs and states of repair pour into the system.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter one

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2162 CE: Aboard the Migrant Fleet

As Shala'Raan Vas Tonbay prepared her crew for relay transit, one word repeated within her mind. "Finally". The Quarian people had finally had enough with their treatment at the hands of the galactic community and decided to take their chances far away from known space. Leaving drones behind to deactivate the relay they used and hide all signs of their passage through the system, the flotilla sped through relay 314 to find the connected system held no dextro worlds. Searching the nearby systems yielded another relay and so the fleet repeated the process. When the fleet came out of FTL they found a red giant and several other mass relays in close proximity, but still no dextro planets to settle. Choosing one at random they went through the process of activating it and leaving another drone behind. Arriving roughly 36 light-years away, in a system containing 9 planets around a yellow dwarf star. The only thing out of the ordinary was the giant winged silhouette approaching the migrant fleet and the system's third planet.

"Ma'am, you might want to take a look at this!" said one of the bridge crew as he brought the image onto the main screen. To he credit, Shala only slightly faltered at the sight before ordering "Search all channels for any signals and someone patch me through to the other admirals."

After several tense moments of waiting, the voices of Han'Gerrel and Zaal'Koris could be heard arguing throughout the bridge. After listening to them getting nowhere, Shala interrupts "Does anyone know what we're even looking at? It's bigger than a dreadnought, moves like an animal, according to our scans it leaves no emissions, and it appears to be communicating with much smaller animals through unknown means. I didn't even see it until it was pointed out to me."

"Whatever it is, it's been observing us since our arrival and has yet to make any hostile moves against us. We have no idea what it is capable of, so I will repeat myself once more in saying that shooting first is a horrible plan!" huffed an obviously irritated Zaal. "Regardless of whether it is a completely alien lifeform or an incredibly organic looking ship, we should at least try to communicate with it while it still tolerates our presence."

Whether fortunate or not for the admirals, they were not the only ones thinking along those lines. Right as Zaal'Koris finished speaking, a swirling mass of light erupted in front of The Tonbay, fading away just as quickly and leaving a lone figure hanging in the void. The individual had the same general shape as most citadel races, though among the bipedal races only the Krogan could compare in size. Dressed in flowing black robes, their leg structure was obscured from view, but a five digit hand was wrapped around what appeared to be a large stick of some sort. For what reason a space faring creature wielded a stick was unknown, they could only guess it was symbolic or ceremonial due to the large green gems. The creature's was was covered, but judging by the helmet, it appeared to have tusks that would indicate a territorial creature by evolution.

"Why would they place themselves in front of a potentially hostile fleet like that? Are these people suicidal or just stupid?" asked Han, as Daro shook her head "they're obviously looking to meet face to face, showing good faith by exposing themselves. Besides, what's to stop them from leaving the way they came? Why if we had that capa-" Shala cut her off "Well then, lets not keep them waiting, we can use a shuttle as a meeting room to limit contamination and danger to the fleet."

After a brief debate on who to bring, a shuttle ride later saw admirals Shala, Han, Daro, and three marines approaching the robed individual while Zaal'Koris stayed behind to keep the flotilla organized and prevent any jumpy Quarians from starting a war. As the shuttle drew near, the cabin was depressurized and the door opened. When their guest had boarded, the shuttle was sealed and pressurized. The creature threw back it's hood and removed it's mask and helmet, shocking the occupants of the shuttle. It looked like a large Quarian male with fine golden hair and lacking any bio-luminescence. The facial proportions and angles were all slightly wrong, but he was so similar that most of them had unconsciously relaxed at seeing his face after expecting a large, tusked reptilian monster. The comfort didn't last long, as writhing lights of all colors from red to blue flew from the not-Quarian and into everyone else. Raising their weapons, the marines placed themselves in front of the admirals to shield them from danger. The creature calmly raised his hand and spoke "Wait, i mean you no harm." It was a smooth and masculine voice, betraying nothing but confidence and strength of will.

"Hold your fire, those lights were obviously for some form of translation." said Daro, looking from the marines to the man "How did you do that? translating a completely foreign language in a matter of moments should be impossible."

"My apologies... ma'am? but the knowledge is only one way, I simply gave you my understanding of my language, I have no idea what you're saying besides the obvious confusion. i suggest we take this to one of our ships and spend some time breaking the other half of the language barrier." and with that said, the man put his equipment back on and waited for the admirals to come to a decision. Eventually they decided on going to the alien's ship to avoid risking the Migrant Fleet.

It took several days of pantomiming, pointing at objects, and several linguists from around the empire, but a good enough translation was made for both a translation spell and an omni-tool translator to be created. Once proper communication was established, the admirals decided that introductions were in order and approached the same man they had first met since all the aliens seemed to defer to his judgement. "Greetings, we of the admiralty board, on behalf of the Quarian people would like to state our wish for continued peace and cooperation between our peoples. I am admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay of the patrol fleet, to my left is admiral Daro'Xen Vas Moreh of special projects, to my right is admiral Han'Gerrel Vas Neema of the heavy fleet, and though he is not with us at the moment admiral Zaal'Koris Vas Qwib Qwib of the civilian fleet would be pleased to make your acquaintance."

After she finished talking, the man took a step forward and gave a bow "Emperor Magnus of The Empire of Nirn, at your service. I would like to officially welcome you aboard The World Eater."

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 **A/N: This is my first story and I'm planning on continuing it for quite some time. I'll be up front and say that it will contain concepts that the average TES fan didn't know about that universe and might make some readers wonder where I got those ideas. To those confused I will recommend looking into CHIM, the lessons of Vivec, Tiber Septim/Talos, the Tower, and The wheel. TES lore has always been up to interpretation and this story is my interpretation on what a CHIMster could accomplish. To my reviewers I say thanks, I'm glad people could guess who was coming through the relay. Any guesses as to what system this chapter takes place in? I tried to leave some obvious clues by stating the path the Quarians took to get there and describing the system, let me know what you think as the story progresses.  
**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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2162 CE: Aboard The World Eater

 _"Emperor Magnus of The Empire of Nirn, at your service. I would like to officially welcome you aboard The World Eater."_ Only three words seemed to register to Shala'Raan at that moment, 'EMPEROR, WORLD, EATER' each one added to the dread building within her. _'What have we stumbled upon here? Is he really an Emperor? judging by their ships I thought they were a single system race, the only problem with that is the ship I'm on right now. Surely his words were a translation error, nobody would build a ship that destroys planets. right?'_ All these thoughts swam through her head. She was about to voice her thoughts when Daro interjected with almost the exact words she had just been thinking.

"Surely you don't mean that this ship is capable of destroying any planet you desire?" Daro had somehow managed to say in a more composed voice than her body language would have you believe.

For his part, Magnus gave a hearty laugh "Goodness no, This ship was named after an ancient dragon from my homeland. Legends told of him eating the world in order to make room for a new one to grow in it's place." At that, the admirals gave a collective sigh of relief. "Besides, destroying a planet made of gases makes no sense, no this ship can only blow up the solid ones." He finished with a friendly smile. "So, from where does your people hail? I'm assuming you brought a civilian fleet to this system in hopes of starting a colony."

"How can you so easily claim to destroy planets?! There's only so many habitable planets within close proximity to the Relay network, to think that someone would actually destroy such a precious resource is unbelievable! To answer your question; Yes, we came here looking for a planet to colonize, but we no longer posses a home planet. We only came here because the Council, in their infinite wisdom, refuses to allow us colonize any planets. So we left known space." Han'Gerrel spat the last sentence as though it tasted foul.

"Well that just opens the door to more questions I'm afraid. What is this Relay Network you mentioned and why is it so important. Who is this council that denies you a home and why would they stop an entire species that has been displaced from starting somewhere else?" questioned a rather perplexed Emperor, rarely does someone say something of such implications without saying much at all.

The admirals were becoming hysterical at this point, Daro's voice was shrill when she next spoke "What do you mean 'what are Relays'? Mass Relays, created by the Protheans 50000 years ago as a means of traveling between the star clusters. one of the few things they left behind when they mysteriously vanished. Are you trying to say that you don't use the ONLY KNOWN WAY TO TRAVEL FASTER THAN LIGHT?!" Daro was swaying and looked ready to faint by the time she screamed out that last sentence.

Motioning for them to sit, the emperor spoke "Kaan Drem Ov. I'm going to guess that no other species you know of has done that before now? Yes, my Empire spans nine star systems, technically ten if you count our home system but I can explain that another time if I must. My empire is not limited to any network of relays and as such, we have an abundance of planets to settle or destroy if we so please. If these relays are made by a supposedly vanished race, you and this council are relying on another race's invention when you have neither met the make nor understand how the things work. That, my friends, sounds like a trap if ever i have heard of one. But enough of that, If this council refuses to let you settle anywhere, they must have a reason. I would like to hear it."

Having calmed down considerably, Shala cleared her throat and told their tale. How the Quarians had made the Geth and been sentenced to a slow death in space for breaking the council's law ever since. When she was finished, Magnus sighed "It sounds to me as though the only crime your people committed was to follow the council's law by trying to destroy the Geth." The admirals tried to respond but Magnus Didn't let them. "They were Your children, they looked to you for guidance and your people feared the council so much that instead of nurturing their children, they tried to kill them. The Geth defended themselves, as anyone would, and did not pursue your people as they fled. You turn to the ones who make you kill your children and wonder why they refuse to let you start anew. I can tell you why; They know that if you settle, you won't be constantly thinking of how the Geth took you homes and they are AFRAID. Afraid that you would realize why things are so wrong and fix your mistake. Afraid that over time you would forgive the Geth and rejoin them. Afraid of the parents wrath when they come home to find a family member hurt by a stranger wearing their own clothes. You are welcome to have any planet in this system and join my empire, equal to all my subjects and under my protection, but only if your children are willing to forgive their parents. If not, may you find better luck elsewhere."

With those words, it finally connected in the minds of the present Quarians. The only reason the council had outlawed A.I. was fear. Not fear of machines rebelling against their creators, but fear of losing their power over the other races. He was right and he was willing to help the Quarian race even with nothing in return other than the end of a one sided family feud. "We will let the rest of the Migrant Fleet know, however we have a couple of issues that must be addressed if we were to join your empire. Namely our biology, we require different food than all other races we have met other than the Turians." said Shala.

Nodding, the Emperor replied "Easy enough, if you can provide samples, I'm sure that one of my alchemists or alterationists can come up with a solution. The other problem?"

Han spoke next "Our immune systems. The reason we must wear these suits, even now, is because we can get sick or die from infection easily."

Magnus laughed "When you said you had another problem, i thought it might be serious. We have had a solution to that one for millennia. You see, many of my subjects are a race called Argonians. They come from a swampy land where few can enter without catching several nasty diseases, this protected them from invasion but made trade rather difficult until we came up with an efficient means of disease protection. Give me an accurate population count next time we meet and I'll have your solution within a month from then. Until then, feel free to stay in this system and let me know when you are ready to contact the Geth, I'll send one of my people with you so that we may keep in contact." a short creature in black armor followed the Quarians as they made their way to the shuttle and the group flew back to the Migrant fleet, now discharging their drive cores around a blue gas giant.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

As the hours ticked by, Magnus grew tired of waiting for the Quarians' Response and decided to contact his Bosmer agent aboard the Migrant Fleet. "Eridor, status report." The sudden voice in his head startled the legionnaire out of his thoughts. "My lord, the admirals have been debating with their civilian conclave since we arrived. The hatred for the Geth is deep rooted in these people... though admiral Zaal'Koris was oddly receptive to the idea..."

"Very well, notify me whenever a decision is reached. Now tell me, how do their people live?" asked the Emperor, knowing that he wouldn't like the answer. "Sir, this fleet is falling apart. Quarians have been in and out of this room nonstop, repairing problems as they arrive. Even admiral Daro'Xen has had to stop and fix something in the walls during this meeting... Frankly, it's a disaster and the people know it."

"Well why are you just standing there daydreaming then? You are an expert in alteration, show some good will and help in the repairs instead of watching them slowly die for Talos' sake!" With that, the connection was cut, leaving an embarrassed Bosmer to his duties.

Seeing one of the aliens taking apart a wall panel, Eridor decided to speak up. "I can't help but notice all the repairs going on, this is the third time that panel has been removed since i got here." Startled, the young Quarian spun around. "Sorry, didn't mean to spook you, I was just wondering if you'd like some help."

"It's my fault for not paying attention to my surroundings. We are constantly fixing the same things because we don't have any good material to make the repairs with, parts breaks almost as soon as we patch them up." sighed the frustrated alien.

"Well maybe i can help with that. Bring me some old rusted scrap metal and i should be able to get you some decent materials to work with." offered Eridor. For the next few hours, the legionnaire was transmuting every bit of scrap on the ship into refined metals. Once word had spread, people from all over the ship were bringing him their junk. Little did he know just how much such an act of kindness meant to the people of the Migrant fleet after generations of distrust and abuse from all outsiders. Seeing the Empire's efforts to help firsthand, the conclave agreed to meet with the Geth on the condition that the Empire would defend them if the Geth turned hostile. Eridor notified the Emperor and the terms were deemed acceptable to all.

 **Aboard The Tonbay**

It had been three hours since the conclave agreed, the admiralty board and Magnus had boarded her ship and Shala'Raan was working to calm her crew when the Emperor spoke "Where is this Perseus Veil?"

Shala highlighted a portion of the galaxy map "It's the purple nebula near the outer rim, It will take us a few hours and several relay jumps to get there."

Magnus waved her off "We aren't taking the relays my dear, just point out one of the stars in the constellations." Drawing confused looks from those aboard.

"Emperor Magnus.. Sir.. We do not posses any other form of FTL that can make the journey. Surely you don't expect to use whatever technology your empire does." Said a confused Zaal'Koris.

"Who said anything about using technology? I AM the one directly responsible for my people's ability to travel the stars. Just point out a window and show me the star near Rannoch." Magnus looked rather amused by their disbelief at his claims as they did as he said. The next thing she knew, her ship was surrounded by light and when it faded they were in front of a massive station of black. All around were brilliant shifting colors and countless numbers of those small ships appearing and disappearing.

Magnus clapped his hands together and proclaimed "Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the realm of Arctus. In front you will see Arctus station, a massive fortress of untold destructive capabilities. As I said previously, I am the one responsible for how my people travel, for this realm is me and i am it. Everything in this realm is here because i Will it so. With a quick message to myself, anyone in my empire may request where they would like to go and I will bring them here before pushing them out at their destination." The Quarians were struck speechless, so he continued "I see that this is a bit much for you, so without further delay. Onward and outward!" The ship was again enveloped in light and deposited in the center of a Geth fleet around Rannoch, breaking everyone out of their daze.

As the crew scrambled to prepare for combat, Shala noticed something odd "They're not attacking. They are avoiding collision, so they do see us, but they're not attacking."

Suddenly a series of clicks and chirps came through the intercom, followed by a synthesized voice "Creator ship. Unexpected. No data on method of travel. Your ship is damaged. Do you require assistance?"

"Geth, this is Shala'Raan Vas Tonbay, admiral of the Migrant Fleet. The Quarian people. We.. we were wrong... We came here with the hope that you might forgive us, we wish for peace." Moments passed in silence, many held their breath in anticipation. Finally the voice replied "Shala'Raan Admiral, resentment is an organic concept fueled by chemistry and emotion. Geth do not have these. Consensus has been reached. 81% probability that creators words are true. These are acceptable parameters. We will remain cautious, but the creators are welcome here. Geth did not want to harm their creators, We have been waiting for the creators return." Cheering erupted throughout the Tonbay.

Magnus chuckled "Well that's one problem solved, when we get back we can start on the others. till then, you might want to send word to your people so they don't shoot any Geth that come with us."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

One month had passed since the Geth had reunited with the Quarians. The majority of the Migrant fleet moved to repopulate Rannoch while the rest remained within Imperial space. The Empire had granted permission for the Quarians to colonize the system, having already made the two other solid planets habitable with the Geth having transplanted flora and fauna from Rannoch. Now Shala'Raan was meeting with the Emperor to receive his supposed miracle cure for her people's weakened immune systems. Truth be told, she was very nervous _'What if it doesn't work? After all, his people couldn't be very familiar with our biology yet after just one month.'_ She had already convinced herself that it wouldn't work by the time she entered the main room aboard The World Eater.

What she never suspected was that the Emperor would be standing in the room surrounded by crates of jewelry. "Greetings... My Lord.. You sent word that your solution to my peoples problem was ready?" said a confused Shala, though at this point she was wondering why anything he did confused her anymore, she should expect nothing to make sense when it comes to the Empire.

Magnus pulled out a necklace "Miss Raan, good to see you, you are correct. I have the answer to your little problem right here." He said as he passed her the necklace. "This is known as a necklace of disease and poison immunity. It offers the wearer 100% resistance to any harmful effects from foreign substances. My Falmer engineers tell me it works by forming a layer over the cells in your body that prevents them from changing in any negative way. While it's nice to know, my people have been making these things long before we knew how they worked on such a scale. Ah, but i digress. With these, your people will never need their suits again.. unless venturing into the void or somewhere they cannot breath of course. Feel free to ask some of my men for assistance in loading them onto your ship. If you'll excuse me, I have an Empire to keep, Keelah se'lai." he said with a strange twitch of his eye and vanished in a swirl of light.

While skeptical at first, Eventually she shrugs and asks one of the Big green skinned aliens and one that looks to be the same race as the Emperor to help her move the crates. _'why not? It's not like magic necklace are any more crazy than a guy who rides a giant animal through space and teleports to another dimension that is composed of himself.'_ Thought the slightly unhinged admiral as she laughed, put on the necklace, and removed her mask.

5th era 512, Second seed: The first Quarian city begins construction on the fourth planet from the star in what has been named the "Artifact system" due to obvious reasons and uncreative Imperial officials. The planet has been named Haven and is the first city in the Empire to utilize element zero tech.

5th era 512, Frostfall: The entire Migrant Fleet has been repaired and retrofitted to serve as combat capable warships. The Quarian and Geth fleets are fully Integrated into the Imperial navy, serving to guard the relay filled system on the Empire's doorstep, named The Nexus.

5th era 513, Sun's dawn: A lone ship is found drifting on the outskirts of The Nexus. Boarding parties find a single undamaged egg, which is sent to the Falmer research outpost in the Krosis system.

5th era 513 Rain's hand: Geth intercept transmissions from Council patrols searching for the Migrant Fleet.

5th era 518: Quarian Birthrates skyrocket, causing an increase in soul gem sales for enchanting. In unrelated news, the Batarian Hegemony sees an increase in ships lost in the Attican Traverse.

5th era 520: The mysterious egg is revealed to be of Rachni origin. The Rachni queen is given colonization rights in one of the systems connected to The Nexus, under the condition that her species enter a military alliance with the Empire. A collision between two Quarian ships releases eezo into the atmosphere of Haven.

5th era 524: All Quarian children born on Haven in the last 4 years exhibit biotic potential. Studies conclude that the immunity enchantments prevent the harmful side effects of element zero exposure while allowing the positive ones. Exposing pregnant Quarians to eezo becomes common practice throughout the Empire. The Geth begin development on biotic implants for their creators.

5th era 526: Biotic amps housing Geth programs to regulate efficiency begin mass production. The Quarians finally have an equivalent to magic.

5th 528: An experimental stealth ship, utilizing mass effect technology and magic, enters it's construction phase.

5th era 530: A Geth spy drone detects a Turian patrol near Relay 314. Emperor Magnus transports the Quarian/Geth fleet to the Rachni system to avoid detection and moves the relay in the Artifact system to the Nexus system. The Empire's combined fleets of Falcon's accompany The World Eater to The Nexus system in a show of force, hoping to use their numbers to encourage the Turians to back down.

* * *

 **A/N: It is indeed the Sol system, for those who had guessed. For whatever reason, Humanity didn't develop on Earth in this story. I also am uploading these chapters as i write them, I started this story the day I posted. The way I see it, the Council really has no reason to be afraid of AI unless they watched too many sci-fi movies, know that the Protheans fought synthetics, or they are afraid of someone becoming stronger than them. We know that the Geth have been waiting for the Quarians to come home to Rannoch and that they want peace with organics, that only changed for some of them when Sovereign showed up. If the Quarians were to suddenly decide to make peace with the Geth, i see no reason why the Geth would say no or have a long drawn out conversation about it. It is inefficient. If anyone has suggestions on who should be in the Tongues or aboard my equivalent of the Normandy, feel free to name some character from either series and I'll see if I can make them work. After this chapter, we are moving on to the galactic stage so chapters should be longer and therefore might take longer... considering all the dialogue I will have to write and be unsatisfied with.  
**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Relay 314, Aboard the dreadnaught Infalable

Captain Alcarus watched as his patrol fleet formed up for relay transit. After years of scouring known space, the Council had hesitantly decided to investigate their only real lead on the Migrant fleet; sighting in nearby systems indicate the Quarians were converging on relay 314. While most species may not like them very much, most people didn't want them to wander off and get slaughtered by some unknown race. The captain was hoping to find them waiting on the other side, maybe colonizing a large moon _'Spirits, anything would be better than finding that they went extinct or not even finding anything at all'_ with a sigh he faced his crew "prepare for transit, send the order, we jump in five"

Arcs of energy latched onto their ships, sending the dreadnaught and it's accompanying fleet of 10 cruisers and 90 frigates into the unknown. "All ships, check in." ordered the captain once they reached the other side. As each ship reported in, on of the crew members reported "Captain, sensors indicate a large mass of objects giving off unuasual energy signatures. Given the number of relays in this system and the lack of habitable planets, my guess is that they are either ships from another system or an anomalous cluster of space debris."

"Well then, bring up a visual already, let's see what we're dealing with. Scan for element zero and prepare for combat." Just as he finished giving his orders, the Turian at communications yelled out "Sir, we're being hailed." Immediatly the captain was at attention "Move the fleet into a defensive position around the relay, If this goes bad I want on of the frigates to return to the Citadel and inform the council. Answer their hails when everyone is in position."

While he waited, Alcarus took in the information on his displays. There was obviously millions of tiny fighter craft, but their constant shifting places and moving through the shadow on one of the planets made it impossoble to count them all. He wasn't worried about the fighters, numerous though they may be, no as far as he was concerened the only real threat was the massive dreadnaught. The thing was a disturbing sight to the Turian, flapping it's wings as though it were not in a vaccuum, it felt as though the giant beast was looking directly at him. _'well of course it is, this is the largest ship in the fleet.'_ laughing to himself, Alcarus was given the signal that they were transmiting. "This is Captain Alcarus of the Turian hierarchy, here on behalf of the Citadel Council. To whome am I speaking?"

The main viewscreen on the bridge was filled with the image of a bipedal creature in black armor that had large swaths of glowing blue crystal. The alien had the same profile as an Asari and had just removed it's mask, revealing a face that also bore resemblance to an Asari if you ignore the pale skin and long flowing hair. The left half of it's face was painted blue and it spoke in Turian with a strange accent, obviously translated "I am known as Mjoll the Lioness, Grand Admiral of The Empire of Nirn. Now, why is a fleet of Turian warships entering Imperial space unnannounced?"

"We had no prior knowledge of this Empire's existance, we were merely searching for a lost fleet that was last seen near a relay connected to this system." Replied Alcarus, hiding his surprise at the news of an Empire so close to Citadel space going unnoticed.

Mjoll took a moment to choose her words before saying " Yes, the Quarians. They have been through here and have even met the Emperor himself. They are no longer a concern of your Council's, so your business here is concluded."

"You don't understand, the Quarians have broken Citadel law and must be found. While I have no personal vendetta against them, my orders are to locate the Migrant Fleet return them to Citadel space before they do more harm. If you know where they went, you must tell us now." Explained the Turian.

Of all the possible responses he could have gotten, the laughter he recieved from the other side was not one of them "I have known of many criminals in my day and the Quarians are not them. Before you interrupt, let me finish. We know that the Quarians accidentally created the geth and broke your laws... Centuries ago. We also know that the Salarians uplifted the krogan, who rebelled against the Council, yet the Salarians were not punished. We know that the Turians used Kinetic strikes on garden worlds during the Krogan rebellion, Yet were given a Coucil seat instead of damnation. We know that the Genophage was a bioweapon created by the Salarians, approved by the Asari and used by the Turians, and it's victims are still suffering. We know that slavery is illegal under Council law and yet the Batarians go unpunished to this very day. Lastly, we know that activating a dormant mass relay is against Council law, yet you did just that to get here and claim to be acting Justly while saying 'there may be laws against this but it is fine as long as we are the ones breaking them.' You are like a family of theives, punishing their neighbor for keeping money found on the ground instead of trying to return it, and those who know my opinion of theives are many. I give you one last warning; take your warships out of our territory or i will have them removed by force." with that, the connection was cut.

"Orders captain?" asked the helmsman. _'The audacity of these people, to not only insult us during first contact, but to think they can threaten us with a single warship.'_ Alcarus didn't hesitate "I want frigate wolf packs to advance and clear their fighter screens, all available fighters are to support them. All ships fire main guns and torpedoes at that dreadnaught in synchronized salvos; no need to waste everything at once and find them disabled from the first 10 hits."

The captain watched as his fleet reorganized and brought their weapons systems online. Wolfpacks made FTL jumps into the cloud of enemy fighters with GUARDIAN lasers primed, mass effect cannons and disruptor torpedoes fired while the Turians awaited their immenent victory... It was not to be. GUARDIAN lasers were having no effect while the swarms of alien fighters condensed around the frigates, followed shortly by large explosions that could only be caused by a drive core detonating. Moments before the first volley was about to hit the dreadnaught, it dissapeared in a swirling mass of light, leaving the rounds and torpedos to tear through the advancing swarm as it continued to come out from behind the planet. "What just happened?! Where did that ship go?" asked the captain before his ship was rocked by an impact. "Captain numerous hull breaches on the upper deck. The enemy dreadnaught had latched onto us and is using us as a shield, point defense systems are having no effect!" The bridge creen chifted to the massive ship with lights appearing along its hull as its tail began smashing the Infalable's thrusters. One by one, the lights on the tactical display winked off as the frigate IFFs stopped transmitting upon destruction.

With no viable counterattack and no way to control their own movement, the crew of the Infalable were forced to watch as the enemy ship threw them towards the horde of fighters and burning wreckage that was once a proud Turian fleet. The last Image they saw before being surrounded was the enemy dreadnaught spearing all 10 cruisers with beams of light, one after another as the frigate that was ordered to stay back escaped through the relay.


End file.
